Cegelis wishes Duckworth luck. ``She's going to need it.''

[IndianaGreen]

Thank You

First, let me say how much I appreciate every single one of you who have been part of this amazing journey. The hours that you put in, the energy and enthusiasm you brought to this campaign, the affection that you showed me, the encouragement, the prayers, and the trust that you placed in me.

It's been an incredible experience – for all of us. The fact that we're all still standing after everything that we've been through together is a miracle in itself.

But the biggest miracle of all is you. Whatever the numbers show, you have won. Some of you didn't even know each other a few months ago. Some of you have never been involved in a political campaign in your life. Some of you felt disenfranchised or ignored or you just had no faith in the political process. Some of you were there two years ago when I ran the first time, and you're still here.

All of you – old friends, new friends, good friends, best friends – all of you proved something over these past many months. You proved that you are a political force to be reckoned with, and anybody who ignores that fact does so at their own peril. You sent a loud and clear message to the Republican Party and to the Democratic Party.

The Republicans had better watch out in November. And the Democrat leadership had better recognize right now that the real future of this Party isn't going to be determined in Chicago or in Springfield or in Washington .

You and everyone else who's been part of this campaign and who voted for me – YOU are the future of the Democratic Party, and you are the best hope that this nation has to reverse all of the wrong directions that we've been going in.

I spoke with Tammy this morning and wished her luck. She's going to need it. Because she's going to be running against the full force and weight of the Republican Party – not just Peter Roskam, but Dick Cheney, George Bush, Karl Rove, Ken Mehlman and every other Republican leader and every Republican dollar they can get their hands on.

It's not going to be easy. Compared with the general election campaign ahead, this primary campaign was a walk in the park. I had hoped that I would be the one walking out of that park and into the general election, but I wasn't.

I was ready for it…I was ready for anything – because I had you behind me. For that, I will be forever grateful and forever deeply and sincerely amazed.

We can't let whatever it was that brought us all together to somehow get lost or fade away. It was special and it was important because it was real people, average Americans, men and women young and old, with the unmitigated audacity to believe that this was their Congressional District and their country. Imagine that: people trying to take control of their government.

It's still our District, and it's still our country, and, at least on paper, the government still belongs to us. We have to take it back. If not this time, next time. If not then, then the time after. Until then, whenever it is, we just have to keep working at it because if we don't take control, someone else will.

I love all of you, but even more than that, I admire you and I respect you. Let's not lose what we've found. It took too long -- far too long -- to find it in the first place.

Thank you. For everything.

Christine Cegelis
Your Friend & Neighbor

http://www.cegelisforcongress.com/

[skipos]

1. And Cegelis would have needed it too, if she had won. But she didn't.

The last thing our democrats need is the circular firing squad, especially after the primary is over and the voters have made their descision.

[Larkspur]

2. Whatever happened to winners winning graciously?

Shouldn't winners of primaries be willing to meet with their primary opponents to forge an alliance to win in November?

The problem with the Dem Establishment is that they want to rule regardless if we object to their posisions that screw us, like on "free trade". Why can't they negotiate with us progressives to forge a stronger alliance? Instead what we get from them is the attitude STFU and that attitude creates hostility within the Dem Party.

[skipos]

4. I agree that winners should win graciously

And this sounds pretty appropriate to me...

from http://www.duckworthforcongress.com/cms/

I also want to voice my admiration for my two fellow primary candidates-- and the people who supported them.

As I said Tuesday evening, Christine Cegelis is a person dedicated to high ideals who ran a formidable campaign. Christine and I share a common set of beliefs on the issues that matter most to the people of this community. Above all, Christine believes deeply, as I do, that we need to change the direction of this country.

Christine showed, through her deeds, that it is not enough to simply say that the country needs to change—it’s up to all of us to do something about it.

By running for office, putting forth her ideas, and developing a core of active and energetic supporters who are equally dedicated to change, Christine Cegelis performed a great service to our community and our country.

Lindy Scott also brought great energy and insight to this race, and I have tremendous respect for him and the race that he ran. I look forward to working with both Lindy and Christine to advance the principles we share in the months and years ahead.

Now, the hard-fought primary is behind us, and we must join together in the ultimate goal of defeating Peter Roskam and winning this seat in November.

[IndianaGreen]

3. Why don't you critize wndcty for his anti-Cegelis thread?

I discussed that very issue there:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2535915#2536623

[skipos]

5. I agreed with you that there is no reason to assume

Cegelis is being malicious. Duckworth praised Cegelis on her website too, did you notice that? The voters chose the nominee. Nov 06 is all that matters now.

[radio4progressives]

18. getting some sadistic pleasure in rubbing it in any, eh?

it's not enough to win.. now you have to gloat and demonize.

shame on you...

[skipos]

21. What the hell are you talking about?

All I said was ANY democrat who won would need a lot of work, and some luck, to win. That is a tough district. I liked both Cegelis and Duckworth but the primaries are over. It is important to get out of the circular firing squad and win in November.

Next time, try not to jump the gun.
Shame on you.

[radio4progressives]

22. my bad, let me apologize : i misread this:

"Cegelis is being malicious" didn't see it how it was a continuation of the subject table...

please accept my apologies..

[skipos]

23. Its all good.

:hi:

[Tom Rinaldo]

6. I would much rather keep this thread kicked

than the alternate one. Both Cegelis and Duckworth are being a lot more mature about this than some DU posters. I think 95% of DU members agree on some basics here. For one thing, we respect the fact that Cegelis fought a long and hard campaign to take this seat away from the Republicans, and she fought on important issues that she and many other Democrats strongly believe in. For another, I have seen no evidence that Tammy Duckworth personally has been derisive or dismissive of Cegelis in any way, to the contrary. Duckworth remained respectful of her primary opponent. Duckworth's positions on issue place her firmly inside the Democratic Party, even on Iraq where her statements fall closer to a Kerry or Edwards than a Kucinich or Murdoch. Cegalis, along with I believe 95% of DU members, clearly wants Democrats to retake the House of Representatives in November, and for Duckworth to now win this seat in the Congressional district that they both sought to represent.

This race, as well as some other Democratic Primary contests around the country, shines a light on some internal dynamics of the Democratic Party candidate selection process. We may not all be in 100% agreement about the implications of what has been revealed, but we should be in 100% agreement that it is an important matter of all Democratic activists to study and weigh in on. It transcends the specifics of this race alone.

[IndianaGreen]

7. I fully agree! n/t

:grouphug:

[Tom Rinaldo]

8. Allow me to use our agreement to again kick this thread, lol n/t

[IndianaGreen]

9. And a kick for the afternoon crowd

Cegelis statement stands on its merits, and as you said, a similar statement by Duckworth also stands on its merits.

Everything is cool.

[wndycty]

11. You can lecture me all you want about being derisive . . .

. . .I have never attacked Cegelis, I have criticized her, there is a huge difference. I will however acknowledge that I have not been nearly as delicate with the feelings of some of her DU supporters in debates. My reasons for this are that many of them have constantly made false accusations against Duckworth, implied she was not a real Democrat, questioned the validity of the results, etc. So I hope that when you do take issue with my behavior you take into consideration the climate that exists and that climate is not due soley to me and other vocal Duckworth supporters, hell some of the people who are praising this thread have crossed that line into derisiveness as well so I find their comments laughable.

I'm sure you have heard the news, Cegelis is not going to endorse Duckworth, I doubt that has anything to do with what happens here on the DU.

Cegelis refuses to endorse Duckworth after primary
By Jonathan E. Kaplan

Christine Cegelis will not endorse Tammy Duckworth, the winner in Illinois’s 6th Congressional District Democratic primary, because she has reservations about Duckworth’s positions on universal healthcare and free trade, a source close to Cegelis’s campaign said.

Duckworth, a wounded veteran of the Iraq war, defeated Cegelis by 3 percentage points in last week’s hotly contested primary. Cegelis, a liberal Democrat, won 44 percent of the vote against Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) in 2004.

On Saturday, Illinois Democrats held a unity breakfast attended by Duckworth, party officials and Cegelis supporters who vowed to help Duckworth. Cegelis did not attend.
-snip-

http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Campaign/032806.html

My posts may have been rough, but they come from a frustration, a double standard that exists. My question is this, would Cegelis supporters have kept their mouth shut if she had won and Duckworth blew off the unity breakfast and refused to endorse her?

[madfloridian]

14. Yes. you have criticized her and her supporters.

I posted the Hill article earlier. It has some questionable unnamed sources, but I would imagine there is some merit in parts of it.

I think that the Clintonian "fall in line" worked in 04 because we were all so scared.

But now it has all happened, all the stuff we were warned would happen if we did not fall in line. Now we don't have to be afraid anymore, we can do what we believe is right in primaries. Our country is already taken over, now we have nothing to lose by trying to get the party to listen.

And Christine will work with other candidates who need help, so will those who supported her. And in the end her vote will count just as much as if she endorsed.

Sort of like Hackett is doing, working with others.

The fall in line stuff is just not going to work anymore, since it failed so miserably last time.

[Adelante]

16. Well, that sucks

:thumbsdown:

[IndianaGreen]

19. I don't believe the story in The Hill, Cegelis supports Duckworth

as her message to her supporters attests. I wouldn't trust any anonymous source quoted by a conservative website.

[JNelson6563]

20. That's the difference between you and "some"

I wouldn't trust any anonymous source quoted by a conservative website.

:toast: Neither would a lot of us.

[flpoljunkie]

10. Duckworth is going to need it. We all know how ruthless the Rethugs are!

And they usually have more MONEY to spend on vicious attack ads.

[snowbear]

12. Tammy Duckworth will do GREAT !!!!

And besides, she has the Army on her side! :patriot:

[Lexingtonian]

13. well, okay

But I just really hate the way it's become normal to drop the 'ic' off Democratic, as in 'the Democrat leadership'. I hope she wasn't running as a stealth candidate for the Democrat Party in our primary, a conservative entity that seems to exist in the Midwest and South and has no true overlap with the Democratic Party I'm familiar with.

Damn it, we're democratic, or imperfectly democratic, but definitely not some quality or group that needs a stupid neologism to describe it.

[dionysus]

15. That's a very classy woman.

Hopefully she gets to run again one day.

[radio4progressives]

17. Wow, Thanks IG... What Wonderful Words...

Very very moving... better not say much more, or i will be flamed ...

[radio4progressives]

24. I just read Cegali lost by 700 votes...

in another thread, is that true?